Want to look before you leap? Be among the first to learn the 2015 route Saturday, Feb. 7 at Ride The Rockies’ “Route Premiere Party,” where this year’s seven-day route is unveiled in the Seawell Grand Ballroom at the Denver Center for Performing Arts.

Tickets are $35; they jump to $40 after Friday. Tickets will be $50 at the door.

Ride The Rockies is an annual bicycle tour that takes 2,000 cyclists — assisted by more than 100 volunteers — on a 6-7 day ride through Colorado’s Rocky Mountains each June. The Ride The Rockies route is different each year; however, a few challenging mountain passes and, of course, Colorado’s scenery nonpareil are mainstays. Daily rides can be as short as 35 miles or as long as 100 miles, but generally average 60-70 miles.

“This year’s route party will be unlike any other announcement as we roll out the red carpet to highlight 30 years of Ride The Rockies and introduce the 2015 host communities,” said Ride The Rockies community relations manager Renee Wheelock. “We’ve had the opportunity to interview some great RTR personalities as we work on creating a film that will unveil the route and get everyone excited for this June.”

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS – Temperatures hovering in the upper 20s at Winter Park early Monday morning served as a chilling reminder to Ride The Rockies cyclists of the blizzard at Berthoud Pass the previous day that brought Day 1 of the 29th annual cycling tour in Colorado to a premature end for many of the 2,000 registered cyclists. However, as atypical as Day 1 shook out, Day 2 to Steamboat Springs over two mountain passes across 95 miles proved quintessential RTR.

Day 2 of Ride The Rockies on Monday took cyclists 95 miles from Winter Park to Steamboat Springs. (Joe Murphy, The Denver Post)

Snow rips at the summit of Berthoud Pass at the 75th mile of Day 1 during Ride The Rockies on Sunday. (Joe Murphy, The Denver Post)

WINTER PARK — Since this year’s Ride The Rockies route was announced in February, the first day of the 29th annual cycling tour promised to be grueling between its 10,000 feet of climbing 89 miles of distance. In the week leading up to the tour, which started in Boulder, RTR tour director Chandler Smith went so far as the call Day 1 “one of the toughest days” in tour history.

Assuming fair weather, that is.

Freezing rain and snow pepper cyclists Sunday as they climb Berthoud Pass on Day 1 of Ride The Rockies. At the summit, cyclists were prohibited from descending the pass due to fog; the route stopped there at the 75th mile. (Bryan Boyle, The Denver Post)

But on a Sunday that saw Mother Nature play all her cards, 2,000 cyclists dealt with morning sun at the 20th mile in Nederland; rain, hail and lightning in the late morning between Central City and Idaho Springs; freezing rain, headwinds and snow (snow!) midafternoon during the day’s final climb of Berthoud Pass. And then the ace in the hole: fog. FOG at the Berthoud Pass summit that led tour officials to end the route there at the 75th mile.

Ride The Rockies tour director Chandler Smith, left, climbs the Day 1 route out of Black Hawk followed by RTR community relations manager Renee Wheelock in May during the annual “Cue Sheet Trip” to scout the course. Day 1 on Sunday from Boulder to Winter Park covers 89 miles with 9,911 feet of elevation. (Courtesy of Ride The Rockies)

With one of the most challenging days of riding in the history of Ride The Rockies, the 29th annual cycling tour gets under way in Boulder on Sunday morning.

The 2,000 cyclists representing 49 states and nine other countries from ages 9-81 won’t have much of a chance to get their feet wet for the six-day, 471-mile trek over six mountain passes. Rather, the tour starts by taking an inverted plunge — 20 miles up Boulder Canyon with approximately 2,750 feet of elevation to the first aid station in Nederland.

“Day 1: There’s no sugarcoating it; it’s gonna be a tough day,” said Ride The Rockies tour director Chandler Smith. “And it’s a day where you need to pace yourself. There’s obviously a lot of elevation gain in the first day. And some significant climbs.”

Pancake man serves up a load of flapjacks for 2012 ride. (Greg Griffin, The Denver Post)

The mountain views are spectacular during Ride the Rockies, but the sight of the “pancake man” at work is one of my favorite visions of the tour, and I try to witness it every morning. It’s one of the treats I’m looking forward to most during the 2014 tour, which starts this weekend.

A rider needs a push to start pedaling when the sun is still well below the mountain horizon and temperatures are brisk. The pancake man, cheerfully cranking out flapjacks and sausage links by the score at the first rest stop, provides a healthy dose of motivation slathered in butter and syrup. (The pancake man operation is actually a company, Flippin’ Flapjacks, run by Dan and Kelly Kuper.)

The catch is, the line forms early and — despite the pancake man’s heroic efforts and his wondrous batter-dispensing and grilling apparatus — it quickly grows to insane proportions. So early risers get the reward.

Cyclists pack up at the Ride The Rockies campground in Telluride in 2008. (The Denver Post)

As if pedaling over six days along 471 miles over six mountain passes weren’t enough, the Ride The Rockies cycling tour can intimidate by mere logistics.

What to pack? Where to lodge? Why, God? These questions can overwhelm any first-time rider.

Below are some pointers from a seven-tour veteran who as a Ride The Rockies rookie in 2005 craved guidance of any sort. Feel free to pass along tips of your own below in the comments section.

• Hear no evil. If you plan to camp — for the sake of Pete — bring earplugs. Whether indoors or outside, quarters can get tight. After a long day’s ride, there are things you don’t want to hear as you seek shuteye: snoring, flatulence, phone calls, Journey, heavy petting and plenty more.

Ride The Rockies tour director Chandler Smith takes questions Monday at his office in Denver while preparing for the 29th annual tour, which starts Sunday in Boulder. This year’s six-day ride over 471 miles from Boulder to Golden marks Smith’s seventh as tour director. (Bryan Boyle, The Denver Post)

On Monday at his office in downtown Denver, Ride The Rockies tour director Chandler Smith and his staff were busy putting the finishing touches on the 2014 ride, which starts Sunday in Boulder. Smith managed to find some time for an exclusive question-and-answer session with The Denver Post about this year’s course, which covers 471 miles and 30,000 feet of elevation in six days and ends in Golden.

Smith also touched on the history of Ride The Rockies, facets beyond the cycling and elements that could change in the future.

Can you provide a brief overview of Ride The Rockies for those readers who might not be at all familiar with the annual bicycle tour in Colorado?

Chandler Smith: It’s a premier recreational road ride here in Colorado that has both a national and international following. We often have representation from over 12 countries and typically all 50 states. After its inaugural year in 1986, Ride The Rockies went to a lottery process because it was wildly popular. We take 2,000 cyclists every year, and our intent is to showcase a number of Colorado’s mountain communities with a different route every summer.

Some things are just meant for each other. Not unlike Kevin Costner and sports movies.

Think about it. Which of these flicks is not a humdinger: “Bull Durham,” “Field of Dreams,” “Tin Cup,” “For the Love of the Game.” Heck, even “Draft Day,” which was released in April, has its moments, according to The Denver Post’s Lisa Kennedy.

The least known of Costner’s sports movies was his first. And for cycling enthusiasts, especially those preparing for the weeklong Ride The Rockies bicycle tour, it will live forevermore as his masterpiece.

Cyclists pack their gear at the Ride The Rockies campground in Ouray in 2010. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)

As I woke in my sleeping bag at predawn to the call-and-response between zippers on tents and slamming doors on portable toilets at a campground during last year’s weeklong Ride The Rockies bicycle tour, I began to question my taste in vacations. The snoring from the tent to my left and the flatulence from the tent to my right then conspired to intensify my concerns. And as I maneuvered in my tent into something of a naked backward somersault to apply my cycling shorts, which were coated on the chamois with a cream the temperature and consistency of fresh gelato, I whispered to myself a vow: Never again, Ride The Rockies.

This go-round will be my eighth.

What changed my mind? I recalled that minor discomforts can lead to times of a lifetime along the open road by bicycle in Colorado’s majestic Rocky Mountains. I’ve compiled dozens of unforgettable experiences during seven previous tours: sights, sounds, new friendships, better friendships; I could go on and on.

Powder blue skies with warm breeze … check that, powder blue skies with a cold strong wind on the nose, but we’re off on Stage 1. Jumping to the conclusion it was 80 miles long, climbing 3700 feet, moving from Gunnison to Hotchkiss. I don’t know how we managed to make a right-hand turn north and maintain the headwind. The cyclist’s curse.

[media-credit id=547 align=”alignright” width=”240″][/media-credit]

A park ranger hands out lip balm on Day 1 of Ride the Rockies.

I burned 4500 calories, for those of you keeping track. As promised in the brochure for Ride the Rockies there was no shortage of attractive scenery. The scenery was great, but what made the day special was the Colorado hospitality. At the top of the day’s climb at mile 50 we were greeted by a park ranger handing out lip balm (SPF 15).

You just don’t see that everyday. (She was actually from San Diego, but I give Colorado the credit.)

We continued on our way — into the headwind, but all downhill — and were busting through a little town 10 miles from the finish called Crawford. We were prepared to mash our pedals to the finish, but a woman yelled at us “There’s a free BBQ right over there!” Say no more.

Crawford pulled out the stops for Ride the Rockies. Crawford’s not big and they don’t have as many “stops” to pull out as some towns, but they make up for it with charm and warmth. The local ladies served Sloppy Joe’s and potato salad and the local kids handed out ice cream bars. You could have had pie if you wanted it. Give me a slice of Americana any day.

In 2012, I asked a former colleague whether he was interested in running the Chicago Marathon. Two weeks later, he asked if I was interested in Ride the Rockies. I got a road bike, got on the tour, and have yet to regret it. This will be my third RTR.

Daniel Petty is the digital director of sports for The Denver Post. He competed in track and cross country all four years inc college, but that was six years ago. Now, he's doing Ride the Rockies for the first time.